Yield management (also known as “revenue management”) systems are used for determining the most profitable price for products and services in response to market demands. Hotel room pricing, airline tickets and car rentals are but some examples of industries that use yield management data processing systems.
In general, the conditions that a service or product should meet for yield management to be applicable are (1) that there is a fixed amount of resources available for sale, (2) that there is a time limit to selling the resources, after which they cease to be of value, and (3) that different customers are willing to pay a different price for using the same amount of resources.
In the context of a casino in which gaming tables are operated, it has been suggested that yield management can be applied, see “Table games revenue management: applying survival analysis” by Clayton Peister published in Cornell Hotel and Administration Quarterly, February 2007, and “Table Games: Optimal Utilization”, by Andrew MacDonald and Bill Eadington, published in Global Gaming Business, volume 7, number 8, August, 2008.
These articles teach that occupancy of gaming tables affects the number of plays per hour, namely that more players at a table reduces the number of rounds per hour. While the number of bets made per hour can still be greater at a full table than a table that is half full, revenue can be adversely affected when players betting smaller amounts play at a table with players betting larger amounts. These articles teach that yield management analysis can be used to gain insight into more profitable or optimal utilization of table game resources in a casino. No disclosure of a yield management data processing system adapted for use in a casino is provided.